I am a LAZY blogger. So instead of posting blogular reports about the North Carolina Grand Prix and the Georgia 'Cross Series in Palmetto, I'll just try to sum it up now. Roughly two and a half weeks later.
North Carolina Grand Prix 11/20-21
I really like this race! It's a super awesome course, and getting to stick around to watch the Elite races is pretty sweet.
On Saturday, I lost the race before the race. I ended up lined up on the third or fourth row right in the middle of the group. That wasn't a lot of fun.
I made up a good bit of ground after my somewhat poor start. I felt good over most of the course. There weren't any super tricky parts or anything that tripped me up. I love the double stair steps and I was actually able to ride the "wall" this time.
I got the bell and could see the group in front of me at the end of the start stretch. I started turning myself inside out to try to bring those guys back. I didn't know at the time, but that group would have put me in striking distance of the top ten. Never could bring them back and ended up 15th.
Sunday was a bit different. I usually feel better the second day of racing than the first. I guess I worked really hard yesterday, because I was TIRED down the stretch.
Started way strong-- top tenish. But it was like the front group had a big elastic band tied to our backs because we got hit like a tidal wave by 30 riders behind us who wanted to be in the front.
That's when the crashes started. Every corner for the first half lap. Seriously.
Anyway, I pushed hard to make up the ground I lost (my friend Joey, the Cycle-Smart Grassroots Bouncer, said he counted me back as far as 25th). One difference today was that I could not make it up "the wall". It was frosty/dewy in the morning, and I was spinning my back wheel at the top. Going down and sliding to the bottom seemed slower than running to me. The wooded climb also made me hurt today. I guess the fatigue from yesterday made it a bit tougher. I was hurting up the hill and then wishing I had some extra time to recover after.
The group in front of me was much closer today than yesterday, and I caught them at the bottom of the wall on the last lap. However, the group behind me caught me at the exact same time. There were five of us coming into the sprint. Went into the last corner in 4th wheel, and the guy in front of us started to slide out in the corner. I guess that was his strategy because he KILLED IT coming out of the corner. I tried to sprint, finished 18th.
Georgia 'Cross Series (Palmetto, GA) 11/28
The course was super tough. It really favored the mountain biker at heart. We started on a grass stretch and twisted into a long downhill gravel road. You better be in a good position going into the turn headed into the woods, because you weren't passing anybody from there. Lots of single track, some shortish climbs and then fast downhills. About halfway through the course there was a long run-up (for me). It was rutted and eroded and clay. I couldn't ride it, and I was able to make up a good bit of ground running.
After the run-up, it really opened up-- started to ride like a 'cross course. There was one more long uphill and then the best part of the course--the cow crap. We were riding on a farm (there were cows standing beside one part of the course), and a good many of the grassy sections had hoof-print pot holes and lots of cow crap.
The race was pretty uneventful. It rode like a mountain bike race but still hurt like a 'cross race. Lots of me riding alone, assuming that I was last.
I managed to catch two people in front of me coming into the finish, putting myself in another sprint situation. I took a really good, fast line coming to the finish line, but just got out powered by one of the riders. Came across 7th, not too badly.
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